Zoochosis

[Sean]

Now, I'm certainly not the most animal friendly person here. While I'm not a hunter, I'm not a big animal rights person.

However, I've seen that PETA have tried to make zoochosis a term in wikipedia before and failed, basically because its psuedoscientific: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zoochosis&action=history

Heres a perfect example of it: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1225042/Bald-bears-baffle-vets-mystery-condition-German-zoo.html

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/04/article-1225042-0711FC57000005DC-753_634x693.jpg

SPOILER: This is a bear.

I think it speaks volumes on our own behavior. Lock anything complex that should be free into a small circuit with a set routine and it with end up going strange like this.

Even if it turns out to be something else, I still think it stands as some kind of metaphor for the way we are forced to live.

[RedRise]

That's is just creepy. Isn't it proven that humans lose hair from stress? Well maybe we're seeing the same thing here. No organism was meant to be confined.:(

[Invincible Summer]

I thought it was a werewolf. That's pretty frightening.

Although I see how it's a problem for animals to be confined in zoos, I think it's important for people to be able to see beautiful animals without having to travel to _____. Maybe it's just a middle-class petit-bourgeois notion... Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't zoos also do research and stuff with the animals that they keep? Surely that's sort of important, but I guess we can also just send scientists or zoologists or whatever to the native habitat.

Also, what if the natural habitat is under destruction? Should we leave the animals in that ecosystem to try and cope or die? This is similar to the panda situation.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

I'm not sure what I think of zoo's. At the moment I am veering towards the position that we shouldn't confine animals and they should be allowed to live in their natural environments.

[Sean]

I think zoos are important now for conservation purposes. I don't mean breeding programs, but proximity to something gives some kind of familiarity which is important in making people give a fuck. Then again, I couldn't see a family of Sudanese refugees on display for the same purpose.

[Sasha]

dont pigs that escape grow thick hair and tusks again and are after a short while only distinguisble from wildboars by the thickness of their skull?
and visa versa for captured boars?
maybe the same goes for (after all far related) bears..

[Sean]

dont pigs that escape grow thick hair and tusks again and are after a short while only distinguisble from wildboars by the thickness of their skull?
and visa versa for captured boars?
maybe the same goes for (after all far related) bears..
I did not know this. You mean if they escaped London zoo they'd dress like hipsters and develop a cockney accent?

[Sasha]

more like metalheads with skinhead attitutes i guess


"Any pig that gets out can revert back in a matter of months to a state where it can exist in the wild," said Brown. "It will get hairy, grow tusks and get aggressive. They're so good at adapting, and with their scavenging nature, they can get by pretty much anywhere." source:http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/outdoors/2007/11/domestic_pigs_quickly_revert_t.html

[Manifesto]

dont pigs that escape grow thick hair and tusks again and are after a short while only distinguisble from wildboars by the thickness of their skull?
and visa versa for captured boars?
maybe the same goes for (after all far related) bears..
I remember hearing something about that, pretty weird how they can do all that and that pic looked like some weird badger to me.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

The fact that most animals in captivity don't end up losing their hair indicates that the problem lies with this particular instance of captivity, rather than captivity in general.